


The Way I Tend to Be

by winterisakiller (sparkinside)



Category: British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Tom is a bit of a dick, Trust Issues, crossposted to tumblr, established relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27941105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkinside/pseuds/winterisakiller
Summary: When Tom met Marjorie three years ago, he saw the potential of a happy future and he chased it with both hands. But we all carry the weight of our pasts on us. When photographs of their private life leak, Tom finds himself forced to face pain and anger he thought was long since buried and lashes out at the woman he loves. Refusing to take the blame for things beyond her control, Marjorie forces Tom  to choose whether to let go of the pain or allow it to consume not only him but the relationship they have worked so hard to build.
Relationships: Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	The Way I Tend to Be

**Author's Note:**

> This story came from the the desire to explore an Angry!Tom and wanting to see just what happened to get him to that point. Thanks immensely to @ciaodarknessmyheart and @tinchentitri for letting me lob ideas at you and for sharing your thoughts.

“Get out.”

The hissed command caught her off guard. Marjorie Bennett had seen Tom annoyed or frustrated countless times. He was a passionate person though he had worked to keep his composure, but this…This was something different entirely. There was a coldness in his eyes, in the set of his jaw and the line of his shoulders which sent a very real shiver of fear down her spine. The warmth he’d always seemed to radiate had all but vanished and left in its wake was a veritable barren chill. She had never seen Tom angry before. And never directed so singularly at her.

“What?” The question tumbled from her lips as she took several steps backwards unconsciously putting distance between them. Tom wasn’t a violent man, not the Tom she knew. But this Tom…She didn’t know this Tom, wasn’t sure what he was capable of. Confusion colored her tone and painted across her features. None of this made sense. Why was he so furious with her? “Tom I don’t…”

“I said get out.”

“No,” Marjorie answered with a defiance she did not wholly feel. “Not until you tell me why.” She set her jaw as stubbornly as she could, hoping the tremble in her voice wasn’t as noticeable to him as it was to her own ears.

Tom scoffed, his fists clenched at his side. “You know.”

Marjorie shook her head. “Tom, I don’t know. And I won’t unless you fucking talk to me.” She threw her hands up in an almost pleading gesture. The Tom she’d known, the Tom she loved, was a reasonable, rational man. She needed him to talk to her, to explain. But the set of his brow, the line of his shoulders, and his absolute refusal to answer her question told her the man she loved wasn’t the man standing before her. “I don’t know what is wrong, I don’t know anything except the fact you are starting to scare me and I don’t know understand why.”

His eyes narrowed and without speaking he pulled his mobile from his pocket, opening it and throwing it at her. Confused, she was slow to stretch out her hand and the mobile clattered to the floor. She could hear his growl of frustration as she bent to retrieve it. Her confusion only grew as she started at the images on the screen. She knew the pictures well; they were of them in the home they’d made in Hampshire, a smiling Tom chasing Bobby around the back garden, Marjorie and Tom in the kitchen. Beautiful snapshots of the life they were building together. Pictures she had stored on her mobile.

None of this made any sense. How had they gotten online?

“What? Tom, how did these…?” The words tumbled from her lips in a flurry of confusion and alarm. Their private moments had been taken and splashed across the web for all to see. Nothing scandalous, nothing that would harm his reputation or hers, but that didn’t lessen the feeling of violation that coursed through her. How could this have happened?

Tom scoffed, snatching the mobile back from her hand. “As if you don’t know. The only people who have this pictures are you and I, my darling. And since I certainly didn’t give them to the Daily Mail that just leaves you.”

“I don’t know!” Marjorie pleaded as she watched Tom back away, his blue eyes dark and full of disgusted anger. “I swear to you, Tom. I would never, _ever_ do this. You know me.”

“Apparently not.”

“Tom, please,” she tried again, desperate to make him understand that she was just as blindsided by this as he had been. Just as hurt. “You know I didn’t do this. I would _never_ do this.”

He continued to glare at her, the warmth that had always shone in his eyes when he looked at her was nowhere to be found. The loss of it stung nearly as much as his apparent lack of faith in her. How could he doubt when he _knew_ her; knew how much she respected his need for privacy, for keeping his personal life out of the public eye. Those things were his and his alone. She might not have always seen eye to eye on it, but she’d respected it.

“I think you should leave.” Tom’s voice was cool and even, breaking the silence which had fallen between them.

“What? No,” Marjorie started, “Tom, we need to talk about this.”

He shook his head. “I have nothing more to say to you.”

“You are being unreasonable…” she started, taking a tentative step towards him.

“Unreasonable?” he snarled back, eyes blazing as he glared down at her. “I’m not the one who sold pictures of us to the papers and then had audacity to lie about it when the truth came to light. What did you think? That I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t know it was you? What kind of a fool do you take me for?”

Marjorie took an involuntary step backwards at his vehemence though her own temper was well and truly on its own way to bursting. “What kind of person do _you_ take me for, Tom? Do you really think I would honestly stoop that low and share things that were meant to be _ours_ for _money_?”

His eyes were steel as they locked with her own, back and shoulders taunt with tension. “Certainly not the one I thought you were.”

It was as if he’d slapped her. Anger raged with a blinding sense of hurt and betrayal in the pit of her stomach. In that moment he was nothing more than a snarling stranger to her and the truth of it burned. What they had, everything she’d believed they’d met to one another, lay crumbled and smoldering between them. Tears stung in her eyes and she fought violently against the urge to cry. She couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ , give him the satisfaction of knowing just how badly he’d hurt her.

“Fine,” she answered, her voice steadier and filled with an indifference she didn’t quite feel. “If that is what you want, I’ll go.”

She straightened her back and brushed past him on her way towards the door. She paused as her hand gripped the cool metal of the door knob and took a slow, deep breath. There were things that needed saying, things that if left unsaid, Marjorie knew would fester and any chance of bridging the gap between them would be gone. Turning, she steeled herself and spoke once more. “You certainly aren’t the man I thought you were either.” Marjorie’s words were even, despite the fire she knew must be burning steadily in her eyes. She paused, shaking her head slightly before continuing, “I don’t know how any of this happened but I know for a fact that I didn’t do this…”

Tom scoffed; distrust painted clearly across his features. 

“Even if you don’t believe me, I would never lie to you and deep down I think you know that too. You’re hurt and you’re angry…So am I, but the difference between us is that I’m willing to put that aside and try to fix this and you’d rather cut your losses. I expected so much more of you. And now I find myself...Disappointed.” Cool and utterly controlled, she watched as he flinched at her words as they struck him. “Fix yourself and come find me after because, honestly Tom, we both deserve better than this.”

And with that she picked up the bag she’d dropped by the door and disappeared into the cool night air.


End file.
